Argentinian announcement fuels speculation that Copa America 2016 is heading to Mexico

by Juan Arango, CONCACAF Correspondent

Twists and turns have led to there being all types of speculation over the destination of the Copa América Centenario in 2016.  There are proposals and counter-proposals appearing in the South American media along with statements of assertion by CONMEBOL president Juan Ángel Napout that the tournament will still be held in the United States.

After hours of uncertainty things seemed to have changed.

A report came out on Thursday evening in Buenos Aires from Fox Argentina’s Marcelo Benedetto who tweeted in Spanish that the tournament would now have a new stop – Mexico.  In his report he stated that the tournament would leave the USA after there have been various calls for that to happen because of fears of prosecution and potential indictments that might be handed out to officials of the South American confederation after the FIFAGate fallout.

Benedetto tweets that the Copa America will be played in Mexico

During Thursday’s executive committee in Asunción Paraguay, the notion of having Mexico host this tournament became widely accepted.  This is when the talk of Mexico began to roam in media circles but with little foundation.

Many mentioned Mexico as a viable option to replace the United States due to their capability of marketing the event, drawing power and also the stadiums that they have ready for use at a moment’s notice such as Estadio Bancomer in Monterrey, Estadio Corona in Torreón and even the legendary Estadio Azteca in Mexico City.

The big question will be what will come out of FeMexFut headquarters in the coming hours, especially from federation president Decio De María regarding this matter.

The tournament would keep the 16-team format that was in place originally that would have all ten South American sides and six CONCACAF teams.

Despite these reports coming out, there are still members of the South American Federation CONMEBOL looking to flex their muscle, offer confusion, keep the speculations going or a combination of the three.

Colombian FA president and CONMEBOL Exco member Luis Bedoya stated in an interview with Barranquilla newspaper Diario Deportes that CONMEBOL and CONCACAF officials would still look to have the tournament played in the United States.

There was also a supposed bid by Chile in the past few days that looked to have them host the tournament next year alongside Argentina, Uruguay and even Peru.  Add to that the speculation of there being support for Ecuador hosting the tournament despite them not being within the rotation set by CONMEBOL when it comes to hosting the quadrennial tournament.

This also falls into the line of Paraguayan FA president Alejandro Domínguez, who in an interview on Paraguayan radio on Wednesday stated that there was a “signed contract with CONCACAF”.

Brazilian network O Globo then reported that they contacted and received a quote from president Napout and the Paraguayan reaffirmed his support for the US to host this tournament. Martin Fernandez spoke to Napout later Thursday night and he stated that  “CONMEBOL support the United States 100%,“according to the report.

CONMEBOL released a statement later in the evening talking about the meeting that is to be held in Mexico City next week as both confederations look to “jointly analyze how to organize” the tournament. They also mentioned that they want to have the tournament begin on July 9th.

The recent days were some that have left CONMEBOL with credibility issues, especially when looking at their decision on Wednesday to not penalize the Ecuadorian FA for allowing both overage players and non-Ecuadorian citizens play on their national side during the U-17 championship that would define which squads would represent the region in the upcoming World Cup at that age level.

In other words, we are back to square one… once again.